Effectiveness

Effectiveness IS

Dictionaries:

“The fact or quality of producing the intended or desired result”
“Adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result.”
“The degree to which something is successful in producing a desired result; success.”

Effectiveness is the ability to produce a desired result or achieve a desired outcome - consistently.

It is the state of being successful in accomplishing a goal or objective, and of achieving the intended purpose or effect of a particular action or effort. Effectiveness is often measured by the extent to which a particular action or effort achieves its intended result, and can be used to assess the efficiency and productivity of various processes, systems, or organizations. Being effective often involves being efficient and using available resources in the best possible way to achieve a desired outcome - though being effective is more fundamental than being efficient. Effectiveness also involves being able to adapt and adjust to changing circumstances in order to continue to be successful (Evolve).

Effectiveness comes from your state as a human (spiritual, physical, mental, social, all factors of wellness), your intention, your capacity/Power (knowledge, skills, resources, reputation, and influence) and then your actions (in adherence with your intention). Those factors build off one another and generate the next one. For example, intention, knowledge, skills generate resources/assets, that generates influence, and that generates Power. There are ways to hack the system, but that is the integral way to do it. Otherwise, your success can collapse or be taken from you in a life storm.

Effectiveness starts with a singular focus to an intention/mission/goal, acknowledgement of the constraints, and then dogged, consistent action to accomplish regardless of those constraints. Effectiveness is where the rubber of my other values meets the road.

Most people get stuck in the starting phase, as they want to achieve “idealized effectiveness” where they have the right tools, the right partner, the right resources, and everything falls in place around a schedule where you have brunch with your friends every weekend. The truth is, this is no one’s reality, effectiveness starts with what you have now. If you don’t have the right tool, and Wisdom guides you that it’s not dangerous or destructive, use the tools you have. Try to have the right tools, always try to prepare, but if you don’t have a screwdriver turn it with a dime. If you can’t afford Adobe Illustrator, find and use the free version. If you cannot fight that day, wait & plan. Do the best with what you have, no matter what. If you don’t think you can do anything, discover the smallest possible step imaginable, and do that, over and over!

Sometimes Effectiveness is going through the motions, sometimes it’s the strategic high level stuff. Effectiveness is a balance between diving in and reflecting. The dirty and the glorious, the exciting and the mundane.

Effectiveness demands a level of suffering to achieve your intention. Accept and acknowledge this suffering. Accept and acknowledge your willingness to pay it. Get on with the suffering.

Effectiveness is using every resource at your disposal, but still deriving your own answer and direction. The effective person’s life dimensions integrate together, contributing to a higher purpose. The effective person does not strive in one life dimension and sabotage themselves in another life dimension.

Effectiveness is embodying the value of the moment as directed by Wisdom. Effectiveness is applied Strategy. Effectiveness is where the “relative bad” exists. Where Wisdom suggests using values that may be typically looked down upon like ferocity or viciousness. Sometimes passivity isn’t the answer and the unwillingness to access the more animalistic values will put you in danger.

Effectiveness is one’s proficiency at realizing objectives through being at the height of awareness of one’s intention and environment and manifesting within those.

Elevate your awareness, tune your intention.

Subset Values

Spirituality

To be truly effective, it is best to connect your work and your effort with a higher meaning. My definition of Spirituality.

Health

You have to remain balanced and invest in your health to be effective in the long run. My definition of Health.

Wisdom

To be truly effective Wisdom is needed, or you risk going in the wrong direction. My definition of Wisdom.

Love

You are most effective when you love what you do. Passion is a subset of Love. My definition of Love.

Integrity

If you are not integral to the process you will attempt to skip steps and never be effective. My definition of Integrity.

Creation

The act of bringing something into existence. My definion of Creation.

Intention

Otherwise known as goals, objectives, purpose, etc. An intention refers to a mental state or a conscious aim or purpose that guides one's thoughts, actions, and behaviors. You need to know what yours are.

Resourcefulness

The ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties. This is the most important resource.

Relentlessness

Showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace: unrelenting. Relentless pressure.

Courage

The ability to do something that frightens one. Strength in the face of pain or grief.

Conscientiousness

The quality of wishing to do one's work or duty well and thoroughly. It is a measure of obligation, attention to detail, hard work, persistence, cleanliness, efficiency and adherence to rules, standards and processes.

Industriousness

Work Ethic. Constantly, regularly, or habitually active or occupied.

Orderliness

The quality or state of being orderly. Orderly; arranged or disposed in some order or pattern. Well behaved.

Flow

The state of consciousness in which the mind functions at its peak. In such a state, the individual feels truly alive and fully attentive to what is being done.

Responsibility

Able to answer for one's conduct and obligations. moral, legal, or mental accountability.

Viciousness

Dangerously aggressive.

Accountability

The quality or state of being accountable. Subject to giving an account: answerable. Capable of being explained: explainable.

Frugality

The quality or state of being frugal: careful management of material resources and especially money. Accomplishing with spending only the absolutely necessary resources. This is VALUING the resources you have and not spending them without care.

Efficiency

The quality or degree of being efficient. Efficient; capable of producing desired results with little or no waste (as of time or materials). This is where people really get in trouble, it’s common to confuse efficiency with effectiveness and this has dire consequences (think Easter Island cutting down all the trees on the island). To be effective you have to do things that are inefficient consistently. I call this effective inefficiency. Only once you find what’s effective do you focus on efficiency.

Experimentation

An operation or procedure carried out under controlled conditions in order to discover an unknown effect or law, to test or establish a hypothesis, or to illustrate a known law.

Adaptiveness

Providing, contributing to, or marked by adaptation: arising as a result of adaptation. Adaptation: the act or process of adapting. Adjustment to environmental conditions.

Innovation

A new idea, method, or device. The introduction of something new.

Invention

A product of the imagination.

Pragmatism

A practical approach to problems and affairs

Practicality

Of, relating to, or manifested in practice or action: not theoretical or ideal. In other words, what works, not what you think works.

Productivity

The quality or state of being productive. Productive: having the quality or power of producing especially in abundance.

Intensity

The quality or state of being intense. Intense: marked by or expressive of great zeal, energy, determination, or concentration.

Strategy

A plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim. The art of planning and directing operations and movements.

Persistence

Firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.

Iconoclasticism

The practice of opposing the veneration of icons. Thinking outside the box.

Cleverness

Quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent.

Leadership

The action of leading a group of people or an organization.

Intuitiveness

Using or based on what one feels to be true even without conscious reasoning; instinctive. This should be practiced in balance with reasoning and empiricism.

Decisiveness

The ability to make decisions quickly and effectively.

Focus

An act of concentrating interest or activity on something without distraction. This is increasingly important and difficult. The modern world is hell bent on distracting you and knocking you off your path.

Success

The accomplishment of an aim or purpose. You can’t be effective unless you value being successful.

Excellence

The quality of being outstanding or extremely good. You need to value excellence to be truly effective.

Rigor

Exactness, precision. Wisdom guides the level of rigor appropriate.

Timing

The choice, judgment, or control of when something should be done. Sometimes things need to be done fast, sometimes they need to be done slow.

Self-Reliance

The idea that one can rely on his or her own judgment, choices, and be free from these societal influences is to be self-reliant. This is a good base of action. But all of life is reliant on others in some way. You have to have a balanced perspective on this with a bias towards self-reliance.

Discipline

It refers to a set of rules and regulations which are to be followed while undergoing any task or activity. It is a way of being honest, hard-working, motivated, and encouraged while doing any task.

Observation

The action or process of observing something or someone carefully or in order to gain information.

Confidence

A feeling of self-assurance arising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities.

Humility/Modesty

A modest or low view of one's own importance; humbleness. This is an area where Wisdom comes in. You have to embody the paradox of being humble and ultimately confident at the same time.

Open Mindedness

Open-mindedness is the willingness to search actively for evidence against one's favored beliefs, plans, or goals, and to weigh such evidence fairly when it is available. Being open-minded does not imply that one is indecisive, wishy-washy, or incapable of thinking for one's self.

Effectiveness Is Not

Anything that does not serve a/the higher purpose is not effective.

Arrogance, compulsion, myopic thinking, focusing on the little things, not having a purpose or direction, avoidance, whining, bitching, moaning, catastrophizing, toxic negativity, toxic positivity, too much intuition, too much rationality, not trusting the data, trusting the data too much, overusing a strength; all of these are examples of what effectiveness is not.

Anytime you get out of balance for what the intention demands you are going into ineffective territory. What this means is; some goals might demand an extreme response, but that is not out of balance! Significant negative momentum needs to be met with significant positive momentum. The strategic situation will tell you what balance is.

One common misconception is that rest and amusement are ineffective. This is not true. They serve the higher purpose of your wellness and longevity. Now, it is well known you can push yourself way beyond what you are doing now, however, you still need to make time for rest and wellness.

Any time you find yourself justifying not doing something that could be beneficial, that’s loserville. Criticizing someone for their religion, or AA, or self-help, is loserville. If they are getting value from it then leave them be.

Focus on what generates a more positive life.

Valuing Effectiveness

If someone valued effectiveness, it would mean that they prioritize the ability to produce desired results and achieve desired outcomes. Someone who values effectiveness might be very focused on setting and achieving specific goals, and might be highly organized and disciplined in their approach to achieving those goals. They might also be open to new ideas and approaches, and be willing to adapt and adjust in order to continue to be successful. Valuing effectiveness could also involve being mindful of the resources available, and using those resources in the most efficient and effective way possible. In general, valuing effectiveness would mean making the ability to achieve desired outcomes a priority in one's life.

Developing Effectiveness

Effectiveness comes from your state as a human (spiritual, physical, mental, social, all factors of wellness), your intention, your capacity (knowledge, skills, resources, and influence) and then your actions (in adherence with your intention). Those factors build off one another and generate the proceeding one. For example, intention, knowledge, skills generate resources/assets, those generate reputation, and that generates influence, and that generates Power. There are ways to hack the system, but that is the integral way to do it where it won’t collapse or be taken from you in a life storm.

Effectiveness is one of the broadest topics written on. I am not going to tell you anything you cannot find somewhere else in a better format. But here are the essential steps in becoming effective:

Value effectiveness, tangible results, success. The world runs by results; you have to become a results maker. Reality doesn't change for you, you have to change for reality. You have to mature. You have to let go of your old dogmas about the way you think things should work, and be humble enough to let reality work on you and not become disillusioned.
Set your intention: What do you want to accomplish?
Research: Gather Intelligence & Analyze
Strategize & Plan: Based on your analysis, build a strategy. Focus on concentrating your forces on the most impactful thing you can do next. Based on your strategy, build a plan.
Prepare: Build up strategic reserves/assets for flexibility, build support, create backup plans.
Execute: Execute the plan with diligent detailed follow through.
Continual Improvement: Adapt to changes, adaptability to the environment is the pinnacle of strategy. Extract general principles and integrate them into your operations. This step is really the formalized, continual repetition of steps 1-6.

Here are some blurbs about effectiveness:

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Arthur Ashe
“Do your best until you know better, then when you know better, do better.” Maya Angelou
If you can’t do it all, do some.
Getting it done no matter what. Whatever it takes. Come Hell or high water.
Two hands in two hands out.
Know the tools you have.
If you get dirty, shower. If you get wet, dry yourself off. If your clothing gets dirty, wash them.
Get knocked down a few times, then stand up.
Sacrifice lower conveniences for higher goals.
Preference towards action. Connect with other people and live your life.
Don’t sweat the small stuff
No bitching, just get it done. (bitching & negative thinking is valuable, but it is for the strategy & planning stage, or the evaluation stage after a project is accomplished, not when you’re in the trenches, you get to your next strategic outpost and then the bitching becomes valuable).
No use crying over spilt milk (if something is lost, if a mistake is made, keep going, dwelling on it is ineffective).
If you don't have a power tool, use a hand tool.
It all centers around asking yourself “How do I solve problems? How do I get around obstacles? How do I innovate?"
Continually refine your values & mission/intention.
Elevate your awareness, tune your intention, and you will see opportunities to be effective all around you.
If you can’t do it when the weather is good, do it when the weather is bad.
If you can’t do it when the economy is good, do it when the economy is bad.
If you don’t think you can do anything, discover the smallest possible step imaginable, and do that. And do that over and over.
“Go as far as you can see; when you get there you’ll be able to see farther.” J.P. Morgan
Mistakes are fine, but don’t cause problems.
Acknowledge and contemplate your own death. This makes you realize how little time you have to get things done.
Ebb and Flow, do what presents itself to be done, don’t get thrown off by changes in plans or circumstances.
Develop some tempered masochism: learn to enjoy doing things that are hard, unpleasant, physically taxing, or emotionally challenging.

My Commitment to Effectiveness

Effectiveness is where the rubber of my other values meets the road.

My work experience has been a whatever gets it done type of guy. Responsibility and accountability are like my religion. I know my place in the web of causation and I acknowledge it and own it. If it serves a higher purpose, no task is below me. I am obsessed with the strategic objective as well as the quality of the process as that determines results. Whatever gets things done to the next strategic objective is all I focus on. I can be the shadow or the light in that pursuit. I focus on the bigger purpose, the bigger mission, and I don’t get distracted from that.

The universe demands its pound of flesh and I intend on giving it. I militantly attack problems unless Wisdom suggests that isn’t the most effective way forward. I immediately start paying my dues to the universe from the start.

I commit to focus on what is effective and not let my mind take me into the realm of ineffectiveness.

I commit to focusing on the greater goal, and not how I feel about the “everyday”.

I commit to love all conditions, good weather or bad weather, sick or not, pleasant or unpleasant.